macrumors newbie

Yes and no. I have been on forums for about a week straight now trying to get some answers about blu ray ripping on mac. MakeMKV works MOST of the time, but it is by no means a fool-proof way. I have practically pulled my hair out trying to get some of my precious blu rays to rip with MakeMKV and the expensive Pavtube blu ray ripper for mac. I've had some that wouldn't copy at all, some that copied 15 seconds, some that copied 45 min., and some that copied the whole thing but would not display video in boxee, VLC, Plex, etc. On top of all that, some of the files did work, but then had a problem in Handbrake. These errors don't happen often, but be aware that you may not be able to copy your entire library of blu rays for playback on any apple device. But to answer your question, it actually is that easy for the ones that work! I downloaded the latest version of MakeMKV the other day, and it is a trial version that's good for 30 days; after that, I believe I'll have to pay for it. So keep that in mind. Also, keep in mind that not all blu ray drives are seen by OSX. I originally purchased a Lite-on, and was never able to get a disc to show up in OSX. I've used two LG's though, and they've both been great. Hope this helps!

macrumors newbie

If you have a fast windows machine, that's the way I'd go. A friend of mine uses AnyDVD HD to copy his blu rays into .iso files and he claims it has never failed to copy a movie. It is $100, but I'd rather pay $100 for something that works every time than $50 for something that doesn't. You also get the added benefit of uncompressed HD audio output (provided you have an hdmi output on your PC and a receiver with an HDMI input), which a mac will have to downconvert to either DD or DTS to transmit through the optical output. However, the files are quiet large, around 30 gb per movie on average, so you might have to invest in more storage, as well.

macrumors member

Yes and no. I have been on forums for about a week straight now trying to get some answers about blu ray ripping on mac. MakeMKV works MOST of the time, but it is by no means a fool-proof way. I have practically pulled my hair out trying to get some of my precious blu rays to rip with MakeMKV and the expensive Pavtube blu ray ripper for mac. I've had some that wouldn't copy at all, some that copied 15 seconds, some that copied 45 min., and some that copied the whole thing but would not display video in boxee, VLC, Plex, etc. On top of all that, some of the files did work, but then had a problem in Handbrake. These errors don't happen often, but be aware that you may not be able to copy your entire library of blu rays for playback on any apple device. But to answer your question, it actually is that easy for the ones that work! I downloaded the latest version of MakeMKV the other day, and it is a trial version that's good for 30 days; after that, I believe I'll have to pay for it. So keep that in mind. Also, keep in mind that not all blu ray drives are seen by OSX. I originally purchased a Lite-on, and was never able to get a disc to show up in OSX. I've used two LG's though, and they've both been great. Hope this helps!

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Ive been using MakeMKV to rip my BRs for a while now with no problem at all, save one. When avatar came out, it took about a week for an update to come out that worked with that movie. Otherwise, flawless. So, to the OP, yes it can be that simple...with a few caveats: subtitles and DTS.

macrumors newbie

Then I have a few questions. Have you tried The Hangover Unrated, Life narrated by Oprah, Inglorious Basterds, and Tropic Thunder, all on blu ray? For some reason, all these have problems, the ones I listed in the above post. Is there any a possibility it's my hardware? Or do these have some coding that MakeMKV can't crack? It's not that big of a deal, but I would like to have my entire collection of blu rays available digitally to my family and me.

macrumors newbie

I think I just found the answer: If you are have a problem with a particular disc, go into preferences and uncheck the disable direct mode tab. I am copying the Hangover right now, and it seems to be working fine. Thank God! This will hopefully work with all the other discs with which I have had a problem. If so, then I would definitely recommend ripping with a mac!

macrumors newbie

..... and it is a trial version that's good for 30 days; after that, I believe I'll have to pay for it. So keep that in mind. .....

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MakeMKV is free whilst it is still in beta testing (has been for quite a while now). You only have download the registration code from their forum. Will still be worth it IMO when it does leave beta, just for all its done so far.

I've used it for over a hundred BD discs, and only issue was with Avatar, which was fixed.

Subtitles do need a bit more work, but they can be done, and it feeds quite nicely into Handbrake to shrink them down, with AC3/DTS sound if you want it.

I'm not bolthered about keeping the Hi Def, I just want it into an MP4

Will this work? Surely i've forgotten something?

Thanks

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I have that drive and it works fine, though the seller on ebay said it was made by LG. Warning you must plug in both the USB cables to read Blu-Rays and at least one of them must be directly plugged into your desktop/laptop. I have not found a powered USB hub to date than could provide enough power to both plugs.

thread startermacrumors member

I have that drive and it works fine, though the seller on ebay said it was made by LG. Warning you must plug in both the USB cables to read Blu-Rays and at least one of them must be directly plugged into your desktop/laptop. I have not found a powered USB hub to date than could provide enough power to both plugs.

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Was it just a case of plug and play or are there any drivers to find?

I take it the power lead and the data lead would just plug into the two usb ports on the side of my MBP

macrumors regular

Then I have a few questions. Have you tried The Hangover Unrated, Life narrated by Oprah, Inglorious Basterds, and Tropic Thunder, all on blu ray? For some reason, all these have problems, the ones I listed in the above post. Is there any a possibility it's my hardware? Or do these have some coding that MakeMKV can't crack? It's not that big of a deal, but I would like to have my entire collection of blu rays available digitally to my family and me.

Click to expand...

i had no problems with tropic thunder or hangover, as mentioned elsewhere only a few have had issues.. but it has been a while since i ran into one

macrumors 65816

I take it the power lead and the data lead would just plug into the two usb ports on the side of my MBP

Thanks

Click to expand...

I have ripped around 100 BDs using MakeMKV. No drivers were required for the external drive, but the power draw is such that it is necessary to use the two cable connection. You are correct that you plug both USBs into your laptop - one is for data and the other for juice.

Occasionally, a rip will not be recognised by Handbrake. This happened most recently with "2001" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". When trying to open the file in the source menu, it says "No valid source found". I have no idea why this happens and have no idea how to fix it.

macrumors 68020

Occasionally, a rip will not be recognised by Handbrake. This happened most recently with "2001" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". When trying to open the file in the source menu, it says "No valid source found". I have no idea why this happens and have no idea how to fix it.

thread startermacrumors member

The drive arrived today so I went and got an enclosure for it as I bought it from the uk rather than eBay,

I needed to plug 2 USB cables i not my mbp and one into my works laptop for the drive to receive enough power (my mbp doesn't have high power USB) but once it was recognized by osx it took about an hour and a half to rip transformers in make mkv

Opened handbrake and started an encode from 1080p to 720x1280 so iPad would recognize it and WOW its gonna take 9 hours to convert!!

It's averaging 10fps in handbrake, I think its time to get rid of the mbp 2.16 c2d and get an iMac for all my ripping needs!!

To sum up, it WAS really that easy to rip blu Ray it's the re encoding that is a real pain!Z,

macrumors newbie

Yes and no. I have been on forums for about a week straight now trying to get some answers about blu ray ripping on mac. MakeMKV works MOST of the time, but it is by no means a fool-proof way. I have practically pulled my hair out trying to get some of my precious blu rays to rip with MakeMKV and the expensive Pavtube blu ray ripper for mac. I've had some that wouldn't copy at all, some that copied 15 seconds, some that copied 45 min., and some that copied the whole thing but would not display video in boxee, VLC, Plex, etc. On top of all that, some of the files did work, but then had a problem in Handbrake. These errors don't happen often, but be aware that you may not be able to copy your entire library of blu rays for playback on any apple device. But to answer your question, it actually is that easy for the ones that work! I downloaded the latest version of MakeMKV the other day, and it is a trial version that's good for 30 days; after that, I believe I'll have to pay for it. So keep that in mind. Also, keep in mind that not all blu ray drives are seen by OSX. I originally purchased a Lite-on, and was never able to get a disc to show up in OSX. I've used two LG's though, and they've both been great. Hope this helps!

Click to expand...

Wondering if anyone can tell me what's going on. Put Avatar in my Imac last night and MakeMKV had no trouble ripping me an MKV file to replay.
Tonight, I've tried two different Blu-rays and the Imac won't spin or even register that the disc has been inserted. Can hear it trying to wind up but gives up after about 4 tries and ejects the disc. It will still play older SD dvd's and home movies from my collection. Any reason for this?
THanks

macrumors 65816

Wondering if anyone can tell me what's going on. Put Avatar in my Imac last night and MakeMKV had no trouble ripping me an MKV file to replay.
Tonight, I've tried two different Blu-rays and the Imac won't spin or even register that the disc has been inserted. Can hear it trying to wind up but gives up after about 4 tries and ejects the disc. It will still play older SD dvd's and home movies from my collection. Any reason for this?
THanks

Click to expand...

Any f/u on this? I have the same drive by the looks (BD-CMB UJ-120 reported) and it USED to work but it's been months since I tried it and before snow leopard I think.

Now I put a blu-ray in and after a few whirs, clicks, it either ejects or is not recognized. I've tried this in Parallels using anydvd as well with same result. It will software eject from makeMKV but not recognized.

macrumors regular

The drive arrived today so I went and got an enclosure for it as I bought it from the uk rather than eBay,

I needed to plug 2 USB cables i not my mbp and one into my works laptop for the drive to receive enough power (my mbp doesn't have high power USB) but once it was recognized by osx it took about an hour and a half to rip transformers in make mkv

Opened handbrake and started an encode from 1080p to 720x1280 so iPad would recognize it and WOW its gonna take 9 hours to convert!!

It's averaging 10fps in handbrake, I think its time to get rid of the mbp 2.16 c2d and get an iMac for all my ripping needs!!

To sum up, it WAS really that easy to rip blu Ray it's the re encoding that is a real pain!Z,

Click to expand...

Could you please confirm the UK website you ordered the drive from?
Im struggling to find a cheap UK one to match the ebay price.

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